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In order to prepare students to apply rigorous learning to new and real-world situations, educators must provide opportunities that foster critical and creative thinking, communication and collaboration. Importance of Global Collaborations Common Core State Standards demand students to collaborate with diverse partners , thereby expanding students' global awareness . Some of the benefits of collaboration might include: Developing interpersonal skills of working together as a team. Fostering critical thinking skills while working towards a collaborative goal. Increasing comprehension while partaking in conversations and exploring ideas from different perspectives. "Collaborative learning promotes communication among students; it is particularly beneficial for English Learners (ELs) because peer interaction contributes to the development of language," ( CA ELA ELD Framework, Chapter 2 ). New 2016 ISTE Standards for Students I recently attended th...

According to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, happiness and genuine satisfaction comes from a state of consciousness called flow . To achieve flow, one must be completely absorbed in an activity, a mindful challenge, involving creativity. Those mindful challenges can not be too demanding, nor too easy. This "mindful challenge" reminds me of a volleyball net. If it is set too high, it is too difficult to hit the ball over the net, resulting in giving up the game out. Likewise, if the net is too low, there's not enough challenge to keep my attention, leading to the same outcome of giving up the game. Thus, we need to set the net at the appropriate height, and then we'll start learning how to make changes to improve, which is when we'll become intrinsically motivated by the act. “Most enjoyable activities are not natural; they demand an effort that initially one is reluctant to make. But once the interaction starts to provide feedback to the person's skills, i...

One of my favorite conferences is ISTE Unplugged / Hack Education . The schedule of the discussions is decided the day of the conference based on the interests of the participants. What is appealing to me about Hack Education is the small group setting that fosters deep discussions, and the organic nature of the conversations that are completely based on the group's expertise and ability to ask probing questions. I always feel like I walk away smarter. My notes for some of the sessions are illustrated below as sketchnotes with thinglinks/interactive links, bullet points, or as the main points I Tweeted out. Personalized Learning - facilitated by Barbara Bray Click here to view above image with thinglink 1:1 Deployment Click here to view above image with thinglink Smackdown Official HackEd Smackdown sharing. Tracy's HackEd Smackdown notes. Community, Global Connections using tech to build relationships Click here to view abov...

Shifts needed in schools Scott McLeod wrote a post a few months ago about 3 big shifts schools need to take. I agree with the three shifts; and want to add collaboration as a vehicle to accomplish the shifts, which is a shift in and of itself. Below is my adaptation from his original three ideas: This work, originally adapted from Scott McLeod , is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Work collaboratively to change routines What are your daily routines, and what "quick wins" can you add/substitute in those routines to plan for Depth of Knowledge (DOK) 3 and 4 questions and tasks? I like taking the standards and thinking through questions to ask students to promote deeper thinking, and products that would prove they've truly learned the content (evidence of learning). When I collaborate with others, not only does it take less time to create these questions and tasks, but it also gives me more ideas to work with, whi...

The purpose of the Edublog Awards , or Eddies, is to raise awareness of educational blogging and social media for learning. Image Credit: Edublogs Here are my nominations: Best individual blog -- Mrs. Yollis' Classroom Blog ( Linda Yollis ) Best group blog -- Cougar News Blog (authored completely by 7th & 8th grade students, with the guidance from Journalism Teacher Jason Davis ) Best new blog -- Salsich Team 5 ( Jonah Salsich 's Class Blog) Best class blog -- Mrs. Hamman's Class Blog (posts are mainly written by the students) Best student blog -- Em's Canvas (2nd grade student) Best ed tech / resource sharing blog -- Langwitches ( Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano ) Best teacher blog -- EdTech Workshop ( Andrea Hernandez ) Best library / librarian blog -- Bulldog Reader's Blog ( Julie Hembree ) Best administrator blog -- This and That ( Jon Castelhano ) Most influential blog post of the year -- My TEDxDesMoines video: From Fear to Emp...

Original Photo Credit: 96dpi via Compfight cc     Adapted by: Tracy Watanabe cc Twitter Chats are fabulous self-selected professional development. A Twitter Chat Group is a group of people who come to Twitter to "discuss" a specific topic of interest. During the Twitter Chat, moderators will ask questions around the topic, and participants will answer. It requires some fast thinking to respond and read other responses. Every Twitter Chat I've been part of has given me new ideas/resources, affirmed other ideas, and/or motivated me to follow through with the next step. For example, the recent discussion on Connected Principals Twitter Chat , #cpchat, discussed how principals (and administrators in my case) can use Twitter to help connect educators. How can districts give Professional Development credit for Twitter Chats? I've grappled with this idea for a few years and believe I've come up with a solution that would work in my school district. ...

Original Photo Credit: star5112 via Compfight cc Adapted by Tracy Watanabe Two heads are better than one.   October is Connected Educator's Month . Get connected, and move beyond connection to collaboration. Collaboration is key for this day and age in both face-to-face and virtual environments. One of my favorite collaborative tools include Google Apps for Education. The presentation below was created for a training I offered regarding collaborating in Google Apps and tips for management with those tools . What are ways you use Google Apps to collaborate with others? What management tips would you add to this? What thoughts or questions do you have about collaboration and management in Google Apps?

Today is our last Collaboration Coach Meeting of the school year, and we're celebrating all they've accomplished at their sites. Collaboration Coaching is modeled after the research-based Microsoft Peer Coaching Program , developed by the Peer-Ed Team . The training focuses on coaching and collaboration skills; best practices in lesson design and instruction; and, technology integration and engaging practices. Collaboration Coaching fosters an environment where it is safe to take risks to try innovative practices, to engage students in critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity. This shift is occurring more rapidly because teachers have ongoing professional development by having someone they trust, a Collaboration Coach, who is just down the hall or right next door. Coaching Chronicles There are six fantastic "Coaching Chronicles" inside this Prezi created by the coaches at each of the schools sharing their "story" of 21st cent...

It's an honor to announce four of our AJUSD members and several of those I nominated have been shortlisted as finalists for several Edublog Awards . Voting is open until 11:59 pm (USA Eastern Standard Time) on Sunday, December 9th. You can vote once a day, for as many categories as you want. Only one vote will count per day, per IP address. For those at AJUSD, that means only one vote counts from the district network, so please vote from home. Here's how to vote: 1) Go to the Edublog Awards Voting Page . 2) Use the drop down menu to select your category and choice. Then press vote . Below are the voting categories and blogs of our AJUSD people and friends. Take some time to explore their blogs and what they contribute to education. Best Class Blog : Fraher's Class and Friends (AJUSD teacher) ; Mrs. Yollis' Class Blog ; 4km and 4kj ; Mr. Salsich's Class Blog ; and Mr. Avery's Classroom Blog .   Best Student Blog : Thinking About (AJUSD s...

I love awards because it's a chance to recognize and share those who inspire me. Likewise, I hear from others their list of educators and students who inspire them, and therefore expand my PLN. Thank you, Edublogs , for providing this opportunity to acknowledge amazing educators around the globe, and for raising the awareness of the awesome impact social media and web 2.0 can have on our learning and our learners. Here are my nominations for 2012:  Best individual blog: Dare to Care by Denise Krebs Dare to Care Denise is a passionate educator who I learn so much from. Her blog, Dare to Care, focuses on the 6 Cs she puts in her tag line, "Creating, Contributing, Communicating, Connecting, Collaborating & Curating." Her genuine love for learning is apparent in all she does. Best group blog: 1 to 1 Schools 1 to 1 Schools is a group blog for one-to-one learning. Each contributor takes a slightly different perspective, which creates an all-star ...

In my last post , I shared some of the big takeaways I had from #ISTE12. This is a continuation of that post, with the focus on these questions: What had the most impact on me at ISTE , and what memories will be most prominent from that week?  What new goals would I set as a result of #ISTE12? JoAnn Jacobs , me, Joan Young , & Julie Hembree 6. While ISTE was filled with amazing training, there was something unique about ISTE that I've never experienced from any other conference, and that's the continued learning once the official sessions were over. The continued learning occured during conversations with others. Hanging out at the Bloggers' Cafe was one of my favorites because of the amazing conversations with others. My goal: I intend on hanging out virtually with some of my blogging buddies. 7 . I appreciated the resources from the Common Core and PBL poster session by Diane Midness, iEARN-USA with Losira Okelo and BIE's David Ross .  iE...